U.S. patent application number 11/198478 was filed with the patent office on 2006-11-02 for optical disc drive.
Invention is credited to Chih-Chung Hsieh, Jeng-Wen Huang, In-Shuen Lee, Chun-Jen Tseng.
Application Number | 20060248550 11/198478 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37235946 |
Filed Date | 2006-11-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060248550 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lee; In-Shuen ; et
al. |
November 2, 2006 |
Optical disc drive
Abstract
An optical disc drive for reading the recorded data on an
optical disc is provided. The optical disc drive includes a
chassis, a turntable and a pickup head. The inner top surface of
the chassis has a protruding structure or an escape-prevention
component. The turntable is disposed inside the chassis for holding
and rotating the optical disc. The protruding structure or the
escape-prevention component is located above the optical disc when
the optical disc is placed onto the turntable inside the chassis.
The movable pickup head is disposed inside the chassis for reading
the data recorded on the optical disc. The protruding structure or
the escape-prevention component shortens the distance between the
top surface of the optical disc and the inner top surface of the
chassis. Thus, the optical disc is prevented from escaping from the
turntable when the optical disc drive vibrates due to an external
force.
Inventors: |
Lee; In-Shuen; (Hsinchu,
TW) ; Hsieh; Chih-Chung; (Hsinchu, TW) ;
Huang; Jeng-Wen; (Hsinchu, TW) ; Tseng; Chun-Jen;
(Hsinchu, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
J C PATENTS, INC.
4 VENTURE, SUITE 250
IRVINE
CA
92618
US
|
Family ID: |
37235946 |
Appl. No.: |
11/198478 |
Filed: |
August 4, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
720/651 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G11B 17/056
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
720/651 |
International
Class: |
G11B 33/08 20060101
G11B033/08; G11B 33/14 20060101 G11B033/14 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 29, 2005 |
TW |
94113823 |
Claims
1. An optical disc drive for reading recorded data on an optical
disc, the optical disc drive comprising: a chassis having a
protruding structure disposed on an inner top surface of the
chassis; a turntable disposed inside the chassis, wherein the
turntable is suitable for holding and rotating the optical disc
which has a non-data region located on the inner side of the
optical disc; and a movable pickup head disposed inside the chassis
for reading the recorded data on the optical disc, wherein the
protruding structure comprises a plurality of round-shaped pads
correspondingly disposed above the non-data region of the optical
disc when the optical disc is placed on the turntable inside the
chassis.
2. The optical disc drive of claim 1, wherein the non-data region
of the optical disc rests on the turntable.
3. The optical disc drive of claim 1, further comprising a tray
disposed inside the chassis and suitable for ejecting from the
chassis, and the turntable and the pickup head are disposed on the
tray.
4. The optical disc drive of claim 1, wherein the protruding
structure is disposed in a location away from the path traversed by
the turntable when the turntable is ejected from the chassis.
5. The optical disc drive of claim 1, wherein the protruding
structure is symmetrically positioned with respect to a line formed
by the path traversed by the turntable as the turntable is ejected
from the chassis.
6. The optical disc drive of claim 1, wherein the disc drive
further comprises: a control circuit board disposed inside the
chassis; and a flexible cable connecting the pickup head and the
turntable with the control circuit board.
7. The optical disc drive of claim 1, wherein the distance between
the top surface of the optical disc and the protruding structure is
smaller than or equal to 0.9 mm.
8. An optical disc drive for reading the recorded data from an
optical disc, the optical disc drive comprising: a chassis; at
least an escape-prevention component disposed on the inner top
surface of the chassis; a turntable disposed inside the chassis,
wherein the turntable is suitable for holding and rotating the
optical disc which has a non-data region located on the inner side
of the optical disc; and a movable pickup head disposed inside the
chassis for reading the recorded data on the optical disc, wherein
the escape-prevention component comprises cushioning pads located
above the non-data region of the optical disc when the optical disc
is placed onto the turntable inside the chassis.
9. The optical disc drive of claim 8, wherein the non-data region
of the optical disc rests on the turntable.
10. The optical disc drive of claim 8, further comprising a tray
disposed inside the chassis and suitable for ejecting from the
chassis, and the turntable and the pickup head are disposed on the
tray.
11. The optical disc drive of claim 8, wherein the
escape-prevention component is disposed in a location away from the
path traversed by the turntable as the turntable is ejected from
the chassis.
12. The optical disc drive of claim 8, wherein the
escape-prevention component is symmetrically positioned with
respect to a line formed by the path traversed by the turntable as
the turntable is ejected from the chassis.
13. The optical disc drive of claim 8, wherein the disc drive
further comprises: a control circuit board disposed inside the
chassis; and a flexible cable connecting the pickup head and the
turntable with the control circuit board.
14. The optical disc drive of claim 8, wherein the distance between
the top surface of the optical disc and the escape-prevention
component is smaller than or equal to 0.9 mm.
15. An optical disc drive for reading the recorded data from an
optical disc, the optical disc drive comprising: a chassis; at
least an escape-prevention component disposed on the inner top
surface of the chassis; a turntable disposed inside the chassis,
wherein the turntable is suitable for holding and rotating the
optical disc which has a non-data region located on the inner side
of the optical disc; and a movable pickup head disposed inside the
chassis for reading the recorded data on the optical disc, wherein
the escape-prevention component comprises an U-shaped cushioning
pad located above the non-data region of the optical disc when the
optical disc is placed onto the turntable inside the chassis.
16. The optical disc drive of claim 15, wherein the non-data region
of the optical disc rests on the turntable.
17. The optical disc drive of claim 15, further comprising a tray
disposed inside the chassis and suitable for ejecting from the
chassis, and the turntable and the pickup head are disposed on the
tray.
18. The optical disc drive of claim 15, wherein the
escape-prevention component is disposed in a location away from the
path traversed by the turntable as the turntable is ejected from
the chassis.
19. The optical disc drive of claim 15, wherein the
escape-prevention component is symmetrically positioned with
respect to a line formed by the path traversed by the turntable as
the turntable is ejected from the chassis.
20. The optical disc drive of claim 15, wherein the distance
between the top surface of the optical disc and the
escape-prevention component is smaller than or equal to 0.9 mm.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan
application serial no. 94113823, filed on Apr. 29, 2005. All
disclosure of the Taiwan application is incorporated herein by
reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to an optical disc drive. More
particularly, the present invention relates to an optical disc
drive having an optical disc escape-prevention mechanism.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] With advantages such as cheap price, portability, large
storage capacity, long preservation period, low cost and
durability, optical discs have gradually replaced the conventional
magnetic storage media to become an indispensable optical storage
medium. With the aforesaid advantages and popularity, optical disc
drives for reading data recorded on discs have also become a common
electronic product.
[0006] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an opened conventional
optical disc drive and an optical disc. FIG. 2 is a perspective
view showing the opened chassis of FIG. 1. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the
optical disc drive 100 includes a chassis 110, a turntable 120, a
pickup head 130, a tray 140, a control circuit board 150, flexible
cable 160 and a pair of sliding tracks 180. The chassis 110
includes a top chassis 112 and a bottom chassis 114. The turntable
120 and the pickup head 130 are disposed on the tray 140. The
control circuit board 150 is disposed on the bottom chassis 114,
and the flexible cable 160 connects the turntable 120 and the
pickup head 130 to the control circuit board 150.
[0007] Before the data recorded in the optical disc 170 is read by
the optical disc drive 100, the optical disc 170 is placed on the
tray 140 to fit onto the turntable 120; then, the tray 140 is
pushed into the chassis 110, guided by the sliding tracks 180.
Afterwards, the turntable 120 rotates the optical disc 170, and the
pickup head 130 moves along the track-searching path to read the
data in the optical disc 170. As the pickup head 130 reads the data
from the optical disc 170, the control circuit board 150 controls
the movement of the turntable 120 and the pickup head 130 so that
data signals captured by the pickup head 130 can be received
through the flexible cable 160.
[0008] FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the turntable
with an optical disc inside the optical disc drive. In FIG. 3,
after the optical disc 170 is firmly fitted onto the turntable 120
and pushed into the optical disc drive 100, the optical disc drive
100 can shake or vibrate due to an external force. In the case of a
great vibration, the optical disc 170 can escape from the turntable
120. If this occurs, the pickup head 130 can not read the data from
the optical disc 170; in the meantime, the optical disc 170 that
has escaped from the turntable 120 can cause the tray 140 unable to
eject from the chassis 110. Therefore, how to prevent the optical
disc from escaping the turntable, during vibrations caused by
external forces, is an important issue that needs to be resolved as
soon as possible.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] Accordingly, at least one objective of the present invention
is to provide an optical disc drive having a mechanism to prevent
an optical disc from escaping a turntable in the optical disc drive
during vibrations caused by external forces.
[0010] To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with
the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described
herein, the invention provides an optical disc drive suitable for
reading data from an optical disc. The optical disc drive comprises
a chassis, a turntable and a pickup head. The inner top surface of
the chassis has a protruding structure. The turntable is disposed
inside the chassis for holding and rotating the optical disc. The
protruding structure is located above the optical disc when the
optical disc is placed on the turntable inside the chassis. The
movable pickup head is disposed inside the chassis for reading the
data recorded on the optical disc.
[0011] The present invention provides an alternative type of
optical disc drive for reading the data on an optical disc. The
optical disc drive has a design similar to the aforementioned
optical disc drive. The only difference is that the optical disc
drive uses at least an escape-prevention component disposed on the
inner top surface of the chassis instead of using the protruding
structure.
[0012] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the
optical disc has a non-data region located on the inner side of the
optical disc. The non-data region of the optical disc is placed on
the turntable. Further, the protruding structure or the
escape-prevention component is disposed to correspond with the
non-data region.
[0013] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the
optical disc drive can further comprise a tray disposed inside the
chassis capable of ejecting from the chassis. The turntable and the
pickup head are disposed on the tray. The protruding structure or
the escape-prevention component is preferably disposed somewhere
away from the path of the turntable as the turntable is ejected
from the chassis. In addition, the protruding structure is
preferably distributed symmetrically with respect to a line formed
by the ejection path of the turntable when the turntable is ejected
from the chassis along with the tray. Alternatively, the
escape-prevention component is symmetrically disposed on the inner
top surface of the chassis with respect to a line formed by the
ejection path of the turntable when the turntable is ejected from
the chassis along with the tray.
[0014] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the
protruding structure or the escape-prevention component is
U-shaped, correspondingly disposed around the turntable on the
inner top surface of the chassis.
[0015] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the
protruding structure comprises a plurality of round-shaped pads
correspondingly disposed around the turntable on the inner top
surface of the chassis.
[0016] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the
escape-prevention component comprises a plurality of round-shaped
pads correspondingly disposed around the turntable on the inner top
surface of the chassis.
[0017] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the
optical disc drive can further comprise a control circuit board and
a flexible cable. The control circuit board is disposed inside the
chassis and the flexible cable connects the pickup head and the
turntable with the control circuit board.
[0018] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the
distance between the optical disc and the protruding structure or
the escape-prevention component is preferably less than or equal to
0.9 mm.
[0019] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the
escape-prevention component is a cushioning pad, for example.
[0020] According to the present invention, the optical disc drive
has a protruding structure or at least an escape-prevention
component disposed on the inner top surface of the chassis to
shorten the distance between the optical disc and the inner top
surface of the optical disc drive. In this way, even when the
optical disc drive shakes or vibrates due to an external force, the
optical disc does not easily dislodge from the turntable.
Consequently, the pickup head inside the optical disc drive can
read the recorded data on the optical disc uninterruptedly.
[0021] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general
description and the following detailed description are exemplary,
and are intended to provide further explanations of the invention
as claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0022] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further
understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate
embodiments of the invention and, together with the description,
serve to explain the principles of the invention.
[0023] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an opened conventional
optical disc drive and an optical disc.
[0024] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the opened chassis of
FIG. 1.
[0025] FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a turntable of
the optical disc drive of FIG. 1 when inserted with an optical
disc.
[0026] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an opened optical disc drive
and an optical disc according to a first embodiment of the present
invention.
[0027] FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the opened chassis of
FIG. 4.
[0028] FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a turntable of
the optical disc drive of FIG. 4 when inserted with an optical
disc.
[0029] FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the inner top surface
of the chassis of an optical disc drive according to a second
embodiment of the present invention.
[0030] FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the inner top surface
of the chassis of an optical disc drive according to a third
embodiment of the present invention.
[0031] FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the inner top surface
of the chassis of an optical disc drive according to a fourth
embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0032] Reference will now be made in detail to the present
embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in
the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference
numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to
the same or like parts.
[0033] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an opened optical disc drive
and an optical disc according to a first embodiment of the present
invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the opened chassis
of FIG. 4. In FIGS. 4 and 5, an optical disc drive 200 mainly
includes a chassis 210, a turntable 220 and a pickup head 230. The
chassis 210 includes a top chassis 212 and a bottom chassis 214,
for example. The inner surface of the top chassis 212 (the inner
top surface of the chassis 210) has a protruding structure 212a.
The turntable 220 is disposed inside the chassis 210 for holding
and rotating an optical disc 270. When the optical disc 270 is
placed on the turntable 220 inside the chassis 210, the protruding
structure 212a is located above the optical disc 270. The pickup
head 230 is a movable element disposed inside the chassis 210 for
reading recorded data from the optical disc 270.
[0034] FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a turntable of
the optical disc drive of FIG. 4 when inserted with an optical
disc. In FIG. 6, the protruding structure 212a locates on the inner
top surface (for example, the inner surface of the top chassis 212
in the present embodiment) of the chassis 210. Thus, the distance
between the inner top surface of the chassis 210 and the top
surface of the optical disc 270 is smaller than that of a
conventional design. With the reduced distance between the inner
top surface of the chassis 210 and the top surface of the optical
disc 270 made possible by the protruding structure 212a, the
optical disc 270 would not easily escape from the turntable 220
when shaking or vibrating due to an external force. Therefore, the
optical disc drive 200 can still read recorded data from the
optical disc 270 without interruption.
[0035] In addition, when the optical disc 270 is on the turntable
220 inside the chassis 210 of the optical disc drive 200, the
distance between the top surface of the optical disc 270 and the
protruding structure 212a is preferably smaller than the thickness
of the optical disc 270 (for example smaller than or equal to 0.9
mm.) The protruding structure 212a can be formed by stamping the
top chassis 212 in a punching operation. Obviously, the protruding
structure 212a on the top chassis 212 can be formed by other
methods.
[0036] In FIGS. 5 and 6, the optical disc 270 has a non-data region
R1 located on the inner side of the optical disc 270, and a data
region R2 encircling the non-data region R1. The area that rests on
the turntable 220 in the optical disc 270 is the non-data region
R1. Furthermore, the protruding structure 212a is preferable
disposed within the corresponding non-data region R1 to prevent the
protruding structure 212a from causing any damage to the data
region R2 of the optical disc 270. Moreover, the protruding
structure 212a can enhance the strength of the top chassis 212.
[0037] The optical disc drive 200 can further include a tray 240
disposed inside the chassis 210 for ejecting from the chassis 210.
The turntable 220 and the pickup head 230 are disposed on the tray
240.
[0038] In FIG. 4, the protruding structure 212a can be in a
U-shape, correspondingly laying around the turntable 220. Because
the upper surface of the turntable 220 is typically made higher
than the surface of the optical disc 270, the turntable 220
possibly can hit the protruding structure 212a when the turntable
220 is ejected from the chassis 210. Therefore, the protruding
structure 212a is preferably disposed in a location away from the
moving path L where the turntable 220 is ejected from the chassis
210 along with the tray 240. The moving path L refers to the
central line of the turntable 220 as the tray 240 moves into or out
of the chassis 210. Since the protruding structure 212a is disposed
in a location away from the pathway L of the turntable 220, the
turntable 220 would not interfere with the protruding structure
212a on the inner surface of the top chassis 212. Hence, clashes
between the turntable 220 and the protruding structure 212a are
prevented.
[0039] In addition, the protruding structure 212a can be disposed
symmetrically according to the moving path L of the turntable
220.
[0040] The optical disc drive 200 can also include a control
circuit board 250 and a flexible cable 260. The control circuit
board 250 is disposed on the bottom chassis 214 and the flexible
cable 260 connects the pickup head 230 and the turntable 220 with
the control circuit board 250. When the pickup head 230 reads data
on the optical disc 270, the control circuit board 250 controls the
actions of the turntable 220 and the pickup head 230 and reads the
data signals captured by the pickup head 230 through the flexible
cable 260.
[0041] FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the inner top surface
of the chassis inside an optical disc drive according to a second
embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 7, one difference
between the present embodiment and the first embodiment is that the
optical disc drive of the present invention has at least an
escape-prevention component 312, instead of the protruding
structure 212a, disposed on the inner top surface of the chassis
310. Since the method of disposing the escape-prevention component
312 and deciding the distance between the escape-prevention
component 312 and the optical disc is identical to the method used
in the protruding structure 212a, a detailed description is
omitted. Additionally, the escape-prevention component is a
cushioning pad preferably fabricated from rubber or a soft
material.
[0042] FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the inner top surface
of the chassis inside an optical disc drive according to a third
embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 8, one major
difference between the second embodiment and the third embodiment
is that the escape-prevention component 412 of the third embodiment
includes two rectangular pieces disposed on the inner top surface
of the chassis 410 while the escape-prevention component 312 of the
second embodiment includes a single U-shaped piece.
[0043] FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the inner top surface
of the chassis inside an optical disc drive according to a fourth
embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 9, the fourth
embodiment is very similar to the optical disc drive 200 of the
first embodiment. The only difference is that the protruding
structure 212b of the fourth embodiment includes a plurality of
round-shaped pads correspondingly disposed around the turntable 220
on the inner top surface of the chassis 510 while the protruding
structure 212a of the first embodiment is U-shaped. Furthermore,
the protruding structure 212b can be substituted with an
escape-prevention component including a plurality of round-shaped
pads disposed on the inner top surface (not shown) of the
chassis.
[0044] In summary, according to the present invention, the optical
disc drive has a protruding structure or an escape-prevention
component disposed on the inner top surface of the chassis to
reduce the distance between the top surface of the optical disc and
the inner top surface of the chassis. Therefore, even when the
optical disc drive shakes and vibrates due to an external force,
the extremely small distance can prevent the optical disc from
dislodging from the turntable. Consequently, the pickup head inside
the optical disc drive is able to read the recorded data on the
optical disc uninterruptedly.
[0045] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various
modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the
present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the
invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the
present invention cover modifications and variations of this
invention provided they fall within the scope of the following
claims and their equivalents.
* * * * *